


cinnamon latte

by hanthelibrarian



Series: Promptober 2020 [5]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe, Coffee Shops, First Meetings, M/M, Meet-Cute, Promptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:36:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26918965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanthelibrarian/pseuds/hanthelibrarian
Summary: Mike and Bill meet on a chilly autumn day.
Relationships: Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon
Series: Promptober 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952227
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	cinnamon latte

The wind is blowing, nearly bending the trees in two, and Bill knows if he goes outside that he would feel the chill deep in his bones. Autumn mornings like this always make him nostalgic for his hometown, for his family, but the chill would remind him of the unhappy memories that come with remembering his past. He’d moved as far as he could when he went off to college but now that he’s a successful writer, he’s found himself back in Maine for a book tour.

Traveling from bookstore to library to wherever else his agent sends him has him exhausted. When he had first gotten published, he had never thought he would get tired of the busy nature of promoting his books but now, nearly a decade later, all he wants to do is go home to a place that never quite feels like home and sleep. He’s got friends back in L.A., sure, but Richie and Eddie are too absorbed in their relationship at the moment to be of any help to him. He loves them, he really does, but when you’ve been single for 5 years because your last relationship ended poorly - _just like your novels, Billy,_ a voice in his head says- and now you distrust anyone who says they’ll be honest with you, it gets a bit rough when all of your friends are dating each other.

Sighing deeply, Bill wraps a thick woolen scarf around his neck, looping it around and around until it sits snugly atop the collar of his cashmere sweater. One perk of being a bestselling author is being able to afford clothes like this sweater, something Bill had dreamt about as a child. After his brother’s accident, his parents had never quite been the same and money got tighter and tighter until Bill was working his ass off after school just to be able to afford food for himself. Georgie was always taken care of and Bill doesn’t resent him one bit for that; he just kind of wishes that his parents would have noticed how thin he was getting, how hard he was working but they were blind to anything that wasn’t his brother.

As he steps out from the hotel entrance and into the cool breeze that was whipping up leaves and dirt and spinning it all around like a tiny whirlwind along the sidewalk. Entranced for a few moments, Bill doesn’t notice where he’s going until a strong hand pulls him back from the curb. A car whizzes past, honking angrily at him while the driver shouts some obscenity out their rolled-down window. His heart is racing and he’s subconsciously gripped the hand that saved him, leaned back into the body the hand belongs to.

“You alright there?” A deep voice says behind him and _oh god_ he can feel the vibrations of that voice rumbling in the chest he’s leaning into, echoing into his own. He lets himself stay there a moment, held by some stranger, before he takes a step forward and turns around and-

“Holy fuck.”

The stranger is _hot_. He’s got eyes like a fucking piece of polished amber and he’s tall, so damn tall, and Bill can’t stop staring at his smile, which is growing wider each moment he continues to stare. He blinks and shakes his head, chuckling awkwardly because he was just staring at this guy for way too long and he definitely noticed and he’s gonna think Bill is weird and how he should have just let him walk into traffic and-

The stranger takes Bill’s chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilts it up and _oh wow_ his eyes are…

“So pretty.” Wait. Did he just say that out loud? Oh god… “I m-muh-mean-“ Not the best time for his stutter to pop up and Bill can feel his face heating up despite the cool autumn breeze. He closes his eyes, trying to will away his embarrassment, trying to calm himself so he can speak like a normal human being but then he’s being tugged again and he opens his eyes to see the stranger leading him into a coffee shop right next to the hotel.

It’s warm in the coffee shop and Bill finds himself relaxing his shoulders a bit, leaning into the even warmer hand on his arm yet again. He doesn’t even know this man’s name and yet he’s more comfortable with him than he’s been with anyone in so long. He should feel weird, embarrassed about that but he can’t. Not when the man is smiling at him, asking for his coffee order, not leaving his side even to order from the barista in front of them. He should thank him, thank him for saving him and thank him for the coffee but his mouth can’t seem to form words. All he can do is watch as the stranger picks up their coffees and walks the two of them over to one of the only empty tables.

“Mike.” The stranger says as he hands over the cinnamon latte he had ordered for Bill. “I’m Mike.”

“Thanks, Mike.” Bill raises his cup in a mock toast before he takes a scalding sip. “You suh-saved my life.”

Mike blushes, his smile growing wide, and Bill decides right then and there that he wants to see that smile again and again, as many times as he can. “It was nothin’.”

Bill shakes his head, reaching out to take Mike’s hand. “Really, Mike. You saved me. How can I repay you?”

Mike squeezes Bill’s hand in return before drawing back, the blush returning to his cheeks. “No need. Just doin’ my civic duty.”

“Oh come on, let me do something for you, man.”

A few moments of quiet pass between them and then-

“A date?” Mike’s voice is quiet, hushed, and Bill can barely hear him over the noise in the shop. “You don’t have to, obviously, and I know we just met but-“

“Yes.” He answers quickly and quite loudly and a few people turn to look at them before returning to their usual coffee shop conversations. “Yes, I’d like that.”


End file.
